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Self-steering car glides to showrooms

THE internal combustion engine started life as a frightening and dangerous beast that required a man to trot in front of it with a red flag. Today, a car no longer even needs a man at the wheel.

Technology has reached a watershed with the launch in Japan of the first self-steering car, which will be in British showrooms next year.

Drivers will be able to sit back and allow the “automatic chauffeur” to follow the motorway and safely keep its distance from other vehicles.

Honda has beaten rivals to be the first to offer the system outside Japan, which it claims reduces the stress of long journeys. “This has been in development for five years,” said Graham Avent for Honda UK. “It will be available from next year on some models and could be standard across all model ranges within 10 years.